12 July 1529), the sister of Thomas Cromwell, long before the latter came to power under Henry VIII,[8] but Williams and his son would eventually benefit substantially from this relationship, receiving large amounts of land confiscated from the church.

[9] Richard was to enter the court of King Henry VIII thanks to his relationship to the powerful minister Thomas Cromwell, who rose from humble origins to become before his death Earl of Essex, Vicar-General, and Knight of the Garter.

[13] By the autumn of 1529, he had adopted the name Cromwell, and following Dorset's death in 1530, he was employed by Stephen Gardiner until early 1533, when he joined his uncle's household at Austin Friars and while in his service was introduced at court.

[14] For the next ten years, as Richard Cromwell alias Williams, he was employed in both public and private matters and served as a channel of communication with the minister.

2d., but this appears to have been a considerable under-rating, since it included land and premises not only in the parishes and hamlets of Hinchinbrooke, Huntingdon, Stewkley-Magna, Stewkley-Parva, Turkington, Houghton, Esington, Alconbury, Paxton-Magna, Paxton-Parva, Hail Weston, Waresley and Bawynhoo in Huntingdonshire, but also Eltisley, Bottisham and Boxworth in Cambridgeshire, Staplewe and Bewlow in Bedfordshire, Hamildon-Parva in Rutland, and Stoke Doyle and Oakley in Northamptonshire.

5d., he was granted property in Eynesbury, Eton, and Little Paxton in Huntingdonshire that had formerly belonged to the chantry of Swavesey in Cambridgeshire,[20] and he received Greyfriars Abbey in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk from the King that same year.

[25] Although he had to purchase many of the other grants, the cost was probably relatively nominal, since many of the dissolved religious houses were sold off for almost nothing, and he was in favour with the King thanks to his role as Visitor and as the nephew of Thomas Cromwell.

On May day was a great triumph of jousting at Westminster, which jousts had been proclaimed in France, Flanders, Scotland, and Spain, for all comers that would, against the challengers of England, which were Sir John Dudly, Sir T. Seymour, Sir T. Poynings, Sir George Carew, knights; Anthony Kingston, and Richard Cromwell, esquires; which said challengers came into the lists that day, richly apparelled, and their horses trapped all in white velvet, with certain knights, and gentlemen riding afore them, apparelled all with velvet and white sarsnet, and all their servants in white doublets, and hosen cut all in the Burgonion fashion, and there came to joust against them, the said day, of defendants 46, the earl of Surrey being the foremost; Lord Williame Howard, Lord Clinton, and Lord Cromwell, son and heir to T. Cromwell, earl of Essex, and chamberlain of England, with other, which were all richly apparelled: and that day sir John Dudley was overthrown in the field by mischance of his horse, by one Andrew Breme; nevertheless, he brake divers spears valiantly after that; and after the said jousts done, the said challengers rode to Durham-place, where they kept open household, and feasted the king and queen, with their ladies, and all the court.

[32] The fall and execution of Sir Richard's uncle Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, in July 1540,[33] apparently had no adverse effect on his social standing or private fortune.

[39] He also received the priory of St Helen Bishopsgate in London,[38] the castles, lordships, and manors of Manorbier and Penally, both in the county of Pembroke, valued at £100, to be held by knights' service,[39] and Neath Abbey in Glamorgan, which he chose to obtain by exchange for other lands, possibly because it was close to his birthplace.

[40] [b] A force of 6,000 men under Sir John Wallop crossed the Channel and marched out of Calais on 22 July to join the Emperor Charles V in his attempt to retake the city of Landrecies,[42] which had recently been captured by the French.

Since there was no longer any prospect of recapturing Landrecies and the weather was too bad for a winter campaign, the Emperor disbanded his army in November and the English contingent were able to return home.

He gave orders that his body should be buried in whatever place he was located at the time of his death, and bequeathed his estates in the counties of Cambridge, Huntingdon, Lincoln, and Bedford to his eldest son Henry, with the sum of £500 to purchase him necessary furniture when he came of age.

His estates in Glamorganshire were left to his son Francis, and £300 went to each of his nieces, Joan, and Ann, daughters of his brother, Walter Cromwell, with the proviso that if Thomas Wingfield, then Sir Richard's ward, should choose to marry either of them, he should have his wardship remitted to him.

Gabriel Donne, Andrew Judde, William Coke, Philip Lentall, and Richard Servington were appointed executors,[53] and instructed to use the income from the remainder of his property to repay £3,000 that he owed in debts.